Harlan and I had one more trip to take before we went home. This one was for fun and visiting a very special person. We flew from Geneva to Nice, France where we rented a car and drove about 20 minutes to a charming village in the hills above the Mediterranean Sea called La Turbie. There is a medieval wall around the old section of town and a Roman ruin on the highest point. Our hotel, Hotel Jerome,which you can see in the first picture, was in the old section.
We enjoyed our stay there, had coffee and croissants in the mornings and wonderful lunch sandwiches with tuna and olives.
This monument is called the"Trophy of Augustus" and was built to celebrate a victory of the Roman Emperor, Augustus over the people who lived in the Alps. This was a very, very long time ago, over 2000 years! The ruin was mostly dismantled around 300 years ago and the stones were reused in buildings in La Turbie. Around 100 years ago, some of the monument was rebuilt, so what we see today is mostly a reconstruction, but not all of it.
However, as much as we enjoyed La Turbie, the real reason we were in the south of France was to visit my grandmother, Kitty, who is 99 years old!! She was my father's stepmother and very important to him. I often call her on the phone to keep in touch but I have only seen her 4 times in my life. The last time I saw her was 9 years ago. She lives in the Principality of Monaco * which was just down a very windy road from La Turbie. Here are two views of Monaco, from La Turbie.
* A principality is ruled by a prince or princess. Monaco is a city-state, an independent country which consists of only a single major city and the area immediately surrounding it. Prince Albert II is head of state. Monaco is the world's smallest French-speaking country. It takes only one hour to walk across the width of the country.
Kitty has an apartment near the tallest building on the left hand side of the photo. Here is a view from her apartment of the Prince's palace and the harbor.
Here are Kitty and her friend Franz at dinner in an outdoor restaurant which was outside near the Casino. We enjoyed people-watching as everyone came 'to see and to be seen' and were well dressed to go out late into the night.
Here is a photo of Kitty and I after a delicious fish meal. The chef coated the whole fish with salt crystals and baked it. Very yummy!
I loved seeing Kitty and spending time with her. We chatted before, during, and after dinner. She is very articulate and interested in life. I hope I am just like her when I am 99 or even 90! It was very sad to say goodbye to Kitty but I have many wonderful memories to think about and I will still call and write her.
After a quick plane right on Sunday mrning we arrived in Brussels, Belgium where we took a train home to Delft. Before we caught the train we walked around the downtown...here are some of the photos we took. We also ate some Belgium fries....good!
There is a lot of wildlife around my trailer. We are in a quiet corner of the campground and so many creatures like to visit us. I haven’t been able to get pictures of most of them because they run away, but this pheasant is quite use to people. He has a roosting spot in back of our home…..he squawks a lot. The doves coo constantly and we can hear the pitter-pattering of their feet as they run across our roof. Sometimes we hear a cuckoo bird….cuckoo-cuckoo, it sings, sometimes all night long! There are bunnies playing in our yard, a mother, father, and two adorable babies.
Plus I saw a hedgehog. Here is the picture I tried to take but it was scurrying away!
Harlan and I had one more trip to take before we went home. This one was for fun and visiting a very special person. We flew from Geneva to Nice, France where we rented a car and drove about 20 minutes to a charming village in the hills above the Mediterranean Sea called La Turbie. There is a medieval wall around the old section of town and a Roman ruin on the highest point. Our hotel, Hotel Jerome,which you can see in the first picture, was in the old section.
Harlan had a conference in Geneva, Switzerland for two days last week so I went along with him. We left Delft in the pouring rain and arrived in Geneva in the pouring rain. We were very damp! Luckily the next day dawned with blue skies and it was warm and sunny there the rest of the time!
which are part of the public transportation service of Geneva. Fun! Some of the famous sites are the giant flower clock
(the Swiss are famous for their clocks and watches, there are interesting clocks all around the city)
and the Jet d’eau (a fountain) which sprays a large jet of water straight up in the air for 140 meters. You can’t miss it!
I went to Saint Peter's Cathedral and climb one hundred fifty seven steps to get to the North Tower and saw fabulous panoramas overlooking the city and the lake.
Below are some city views that I took just walking around.
Would you like to play a game of chess or checkers on giant boards in the park?
In my photo you can see the flags of all the nations if you look closely. In front of the flags is a sculpture in wood called ‘Broken Chair’ by the Swiss artist Daniel Berset. It a giant chair with a broken leg, representing opposition to land mines.
Harlan and I went to a restaurant that specialized in duck...here he is showing off his duck cassoulette...duck with beans!
